Family
by Pricat
Summary: Artie reflects on how he, Shrek and the others are like a family to him when his ogre friend and his family visit.


**Family**

_A/N I decided to write an one shot about Artie and how Shrek and the others are like family to him. I had the idea for this after watching Shrek the Third today and the part where Artie picked up the crown gave me an idea leading to this. I hope people like this._

Shrek heard sneezing as he entered Artie's room carrying a tray of muffins and cocoa for the seventeen year old. The young King had caught the flu after being caught in the middle of a water fight between Snowgre and the triplets and they accidentally thrown water and melted ice at him.

Artie was asleep in bed resting from the flu.

He had noticed that Artie had gotten a little stronger inside in confidence but was still very shy and quiet around others sometimes. But his emerald eyes opened as hesmelt the warm cocoa and cookies.

".... Artie..... Artie you awake?" Shrek asked him as he nodded weakly.

"Yeah Shrek.... I'm awake.

Still feeling buggy." he answered him softly. Shrek smiled softly seeing him try to sit up but he felt dizzy as he helped him. It'd been a year today that Artie had became King of Far, Far Away but sighed because he knew some of the narrow minded members of the royal court didn't approve of him being part of the royal family but approved of Fiona but it made her angry.

"Y-You're thinking about the jerks of the royal court, aren't you?" Artie said blowing his nose with a tissue.

Shrek nodded as he heard Snowgre laugh and the triplets were running around with Nerf guns and causing chaos. He wanted to go roar at them like he normally did when the triplets were like this but he didn't want to leave Artie like this. But he had no choice.

"Excuse me Artie I have to go see to...... something." he said leaving the room as Artie was in the warm blankets, his eyes closing in sleep again.

He remembered the day when Charming had tried to hurt him but Shrek had saved his skin by lying to protect him.

"_Charming was wrong, he does care about me like a big brother or the father I always wanted, caring, loving and proud of me_." he thought sleeping peacefully.

But Lillian was angry at the few narrow minded members of the royal court who hated her son in law just because he was an ogre. She knew he was noble hearted and a loving husband and great father but others like hunters didn't see that, just something they feared because they didn't understand him or want to know him.

Fiona saw Snowgre with Shrek.

The teen looked down but it wasn't about being punished by giving Artie the flu.

It was about something else. For a while the other members of their extended family were curious about Snowgre and where he'd came from but both Shrek and Fiona wouldn't say unless Snowgre wanted them to. The teen had been sent there by his widowed father because he wasn't good enough to be the heir to the kingdom Snowgre's family lived in but the teen had been sad about this but hid his sadness behind laughter and joy but Shrek could see the pain in his cousin's green eyes.

"I-I was thinking about when my Mom was with me and my father.

We were so happy but then...... it all changed.

Suddenly..... Suddenly it seemed to my father I wasn't good enough in his eyes.

He wanted somebody like him but I'm not a prince and I don't want to be one.

I just want to be myself.

Is that so wrong?" Snowgre said as tears fell down his face.

Shrek couldn't find the right words to say to him.

He knew deep inside Snowgre, there was a boy curled up in a ball of pain crying and he wanted to cry but felt he couldn't.

"It'll be okay Snowg.

I promise it.

It's not wrong to be yourself.

Your father just is blinded by sadness just as much as you are but you're not alone." he whispered with his arms wrapped around his teenage cousin.

"I-I'm not?

But I have no family." Snowgre said softly.

"That's not true.

You do have a family with Fiona and the others as well as me.

I know how lonely you've been since you moved to Duloc and I should've..... been there for you like the others were." Shrek answered as Snowgre smiled a little at that.

"T-Thanks Shrek, I think I understand now." the teen said as he ran off but he felt glad that he could help his family whenever they needed it but thoughts of before he met Fiona and the others were in his head but blocked them out.

"_I won't think about those days when I used to be lonely and nobody cared about me but now I have others who make me feel happy to be alive."_ he thought as he went to find Fiona.

But he saw Artie standing in front of the royal court weakly. He was telling them about a few of the rules he'd thought that would help the kingdom but saw him drop to his knees. He ran into there and knelt by his side.

"Artie you need to go back to bed." Shrek said gently to him.

"N-No I'll be fine besides I need to tell them about not judging others before they get to know them like you." he whispered softly coughing as Shrek gave the royal court a cold glare as he left the room with Artie.

"Why.... did..... you help?" Artie asked softly as he was in bed.

"Because you know that we're not what people think, you're more than that loser kid I saw that day being picked on by the popular kids but somebody others would be proud to call a friend and I'm more than what they think too." Shrek answered softly seeing his friend's eyes closed.

"It's part....... of...... being a family, right?" Artie answered in his sleep as Shrek nodded leaving the room.

He thought about that while putting the triplets to bed that night and being with Fiona and Lillian knowing that family was better and stronger than the coldness of the world and that the love in the family would remain evermore......


End file.
